90-Days Rule – 2023 Complete Guide

This article will describe the 90-day Rule’s purpose, who it applies to, and its ramifications. You should carefully analyze the 90-day Rule if you plan to convert or alter your temporary resident status to permanent.

This article will describe the 90-day Rule’s purpose, who it applies to, and its effects. This essay on the 90-day Rule intends to assist those who plan to apply for an adjustment of status.

 90-Days Rule explained

The 90-day Rule states that an alien may lose their eligibility for a green card or be permanently prevented from entering the US if they participate in behavior inconsistent with their non-immigrant status within 90 days of entering the country. Simply put, you may be subject to the 90-day Rule’s repercussions if you enter the US to apply for permanent residence.

According to the 90-day Rule, those with non-immigrant visas who marry US citizens or lawful permanent residents or submit a request for an adjustment of status via I-130 within 90 days of their arrival in the US are automatically assumed to have lied about their initial non-immigrant intentions.

The 90-day Rule may come into play in response to specific activities taken by an immigrant.

 The most common ones include the following:

• getting a job without a permit
• enrolling in a program of study without obtaining the necessary authorization or a change in status
• Being a non-immigrant with a status that prevents you from entering the country to stay there permanently (for example, B, F, J M, Q, or TN status)
• Engaging in any other activity that will legally need a status change

A non-nonimmigrant immigrant’s visa will be examined to see whether any conditions have been broken within 90 days.

For instance, suppose you arrived in the country on a B2 visa (a non-immigrant visa), got married to a citizen of the country, and then applied for a marriage-based green card within 90 days of your arrival.

In this situation, USCIS would consider your B-2 submission at the US Embassy or Consulate fraudulent because it misrepresented your genuine intention to enter the US.

As a result, you can be denied entry to the US again.

The burden of proof would lie with you to demonstrate that, despite acting in a way that was inconsistent with your status within 90 days of entry, you did not mislead your intentions when applying for a visa, admission, or other benefits.

What distinctions exist between the 30/60 Rule and the 90-Day Rule?

You may be familiar with the 30/60 Rule, an earlier version of this Rule.

According to that Rule, if an immigrant engaged in behavior that was against the terms of the visa and occurred within 30 days of entry to the US, such as working while on a student visa or coming to the US to get married and stay permanently on a tourist visa, consular and USCIS officials presumed that the immigrant had lied.

Unless further supporting evidence existed, activities taken after 30 days but before 60 days were usually not regarded as fraudulent.

A presumption of deception upon admission was not triggered by behavior that took place more than 60 days after entry.

The 90-Day Rule, which became effective in September 2017, allows consular officers to presume fraud for actions that occur within 90 days after admission and to declare fraud to have occurred even after 90 days have passed if sufficient evidence supports that conclusion.

This policy is far more flexible than the previous one, providing US immigration authorities with much more latitude in evaluating whether applicants for non-immigrant visas lied.

There will be no presumption of misrepresentation following the 90-day window.

However, this does not necessarily mean that you will be excused entirely.

 Adjustment of status denial will occur once more if there is a reasonable suspicion that you misrepresented the objective of the travel.

What is non-immigrant intent?

Every person entering the US on a temporary visa must present documentation demonstrating their intention to leave the nation once their visit’s objectives have been met.

Visitors arrive temporarily for purposes ranging from tourism to study to temporary employment under the terms of various visa categories, such as B, F, J, M, Q, and other visa waiver programs.

For these visits, individuals must have non-immigrant intent, which implies they do not want to remain in the US.

It is your obligation as an applicant to establish non-immigrant intent because US consular authorities assume all non-immigrant applicants have immigrant intent.

Your case’s assigned consular official will enquire about any financial ties you may have to your home country, such as investments, real estate holdings, bonds, bank accounts, etc.

Aside from that, they’ll inquire about your past and present employment.

 Basically, the whole purpose of this interview is to ensure that:

• You have a home and are established in your native nation.
• Once your visa expires, you intend to leave the US.
• You don’t have any immediate plans to leave your foreign residency.
•  

The consular official will probably give you the visa if they are satisfied with your responses and are confident that you do not intend to immigrate.

Single intent visa vs. Dual intent visa

If you violated your non-immigrant status or acted inconsistent with your situation within 90 days of admission, USCIS officers may assume fraud under the 90-day Rule.

The official assessing your paperwork may conclude that you entered the country only to obtain a permanent resident status if you have a “single intent” visa, which exclusively permits non-immigrant intent.

If the officer can demonstrate that you have other intents, your application will be rejected, and your current visa might even be canceled.

You can enter the US as a non-immigrant with the conditional ability to adjust to permanent residence status if you have a “dual intent visa” (which allows non-immigrant and immigrant intent).

Several visas permit this. For instance, those with the K-1 fiancé(e) visa, which is given to foreign fiancé(e), can become permanent US residents after getting married to a US citizen.

Dual intent visas, such as the H-1B or L-1 work visa, enable the holder to use the visa while intending to settle permanently in the US.

The 90-day regulation poses no threat to those with dual intent visas.

Single-intent visa holders may alter their minds after arriving in the country and getting married or seeking a green card, provided they truly entered the country with intending to leave.

The government is in charge of figuring out if the applicant had any intention of staying or not.

The USCIS may still grant your green card if you can persuade the official that you arrived in the country honestly and without lying and that you changed your mind within the first 90 days of your arrival.

You risk a lifetime ban for visa fraud.

A lifetime prohibition from entering the US is the penalty for deception or fraud.

It is best to be truthful during an interview with an immigration official or border patrol agent for a US visa.

While it is not necessary for you to share every piece of information, you should always respond honestly to inquiries.

The 90-day Rule: How to follow it

Suppose you went to the country as a tourist and married a citizen.

While it is not illegal to be married in the US while on a tourist visa, it is prohibited to lie to a border officer about your intentions to enter the country.

If you choose to remain in the US and adjust your status rather than depart for your home country, it will probably be challenging for you to persuade USCIS that your intention to stay in the US permanently did not constitute visa fraud.

This is accurate since you must include marriage-related documentation with your application for an adjustment of status.

There may be proof that even before you arrived in the US and got married two weeks later, you had planned to have a huge celebration after the wedding.

Your green card would be rejected, your visa would be canceled, and you could not be permitted to enter the United States again if the USCIS official flags this as fraud.

You must wait 90 days from your most recent entry date into the United States before attempting to adjust your status if you don’t want to get into problems with the 90-day Rule.

How do I calculate the 90 days?

It’s crucial to keep track of how many days you’ve actually spent in the country.

You can verify this by adding 90 days to the most recent entrance date on your Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record.

As long as you don’t apply for a green card before that date, you won’t encounter any issues with the 90-day limit.

How are recent entries handled by USCIS?

Your Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record’s most recent date serves as the starting point for the 90-day Rule.

This implies that the 90-day clock is reset to reflect the most recent date on your Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record if you travel and return.

What about if you have Multiple Visas?

The most recent visa is likewise subject to the 90-day limit, which also applies to the most recent arrival date.